Saturday, October 27, 2012

I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your Name forever and ever. Ps 145:1.

Dear family and friends:

Greetings to you in the eternal name of Jesus! The Youth Education Strategies team has just finished another great mission project proclaiming the Good News in the Philippines. Thank you so much for the prayer and support as we have shared with these people. I was blessed to share the Gospel in 18 schools, 3 churches, and in 2 community outreaches with a total of more than 9,000 people and I’m excited to report that more than 5,000 of these people made the commitment to turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In total, our team was able to speak in 34 meetings with more than 15,000 people and saw more than 9,000 professions of faith!

Also, I am excited to announce that God has reopened the doors for YES to complete the project in Kenya that was originally scheduled for August. The teacher strike has ended, the schools have commenced their normal schedule, and our team in Kenya has been able to reschedule our program for these schools. I will be on a three week mission to share the Good News from Saturday October 27 through November 19. During the first week, YES will be working in schools and churches in some of the poorest slums in the world in the capital city of Nairobi. Then, we will be sharing the Gospel in Kisumu, the second largest city in Kenya during the second week. And we will finish our mission by assisting Gideons International members with school Bible distributions and reaching out to some of the more rural areas in Kenya through the final week of this project.

We are anticipating another mighty move of God in Kenya. Please join YES in prayer for the Holy Spirit to convict the multitudes of sin, and to draw many toward a life-changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, please pray for God to give me the strength and perseverance to complete this project; this is by far the quickest turn around I have experienced from one mission to the next. Thank you once again for your prayer and support. God bless!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Mabuhay! Greetings from the Philippines. I want to say thank
you to all my friends and family who have been supporting and praying for our
mission. YES has had a great time sharing the Gospel with the people here
in Laguna province. At the halfway point in the project, I have been blessed to
Share the Good News in 12 schools, and several other meetings, with more than
6,000 people and more than 3,000 of these people have made professions of faith
in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

My highlight of the trip so far has come from an unexpected
source. On Monday, I spoke in a small school with less than 200 students. We had
a great program and many of the students made the commitment to follow Jesus;
it was another great, normal school program. The surprise came later in the
week when I received a package containing more than 100 “thank you” notes from
students who attended our program.

Words can’t describe how humbled and moved I have been while
reading the incredibly kind words from all these students. Everything they said
was great, so I want to share some of my favorite comments with you. It wouldn’t
be possible for me to complete projects like this without the prayer and
support of people like you who help to send me. So, ultimately, all these notes
are written to you just as much as they are to me!

“I was really glad and excited when I have heard about your
team. Your team was really good and funny but I felt happier when I saw you on the
stage. I really admire you, your testimony, amd all your inspiring thoughts
about Jesus. Your message truly touched my heart and I know it will remain in
my heart forever. I wish you could stay here for a longer time.” ~Alex

“Thank you for the word of God, Mr. Steven Stockwell. Because
you and your friends, I learn how to receive Jesus and open the door of my
heart for Him. Thank you for loving the Philippines. God bless you sir.”

“Thank you for sharing us the word of God, we have learned a
lot from what you have preached and we can apply all of that in our own lives
and it can serve as our guide… I wishyou can teach the word of God in different
places around the world so every people in the world can have a chance to know
God and experience the love of God.” ~Ivan

“Thanks for imparting your knowledge with us. I really
appreciate your effort that you visit us in school and share something that can
change our lives. Even though I’m still a student I can also share to others
what I’d learn from you sir. Continue to spread the word Mr. Stockwell. God
bless you guys (-:” ~Allysha

“I would like to thank you for opening our hearts and mind
through bringing your ministry here in the Philippines… Thank you for being a
part of our spiritual life and molding us as true Christians. Thank you for
loving the Philippines. Continue to fulfill the Lord’s mission in sharing the
word. May the Lord continuously bless and guide your ministry. Your words will
remain in our hearts. We will also share the word to other people as you did.”
~ Zyril

“Thank you for all the things about God that you have shared
to us… I want to be like you when I grow up, I want also to about God. When I grow
up, I want to be a missionary. Thank you for appreciating our country.”
~Camille

“Thank you for all the encouragement, advices, and good
words you all have said. I hope you will come over on our school again in the
future. I really love your way of speaking because it is not boring. I really
appreciate your team’s effort on telling us things that can help us to grow
spiritually. This was the first time to see and hear a foreign speaker. Again,
thank you for your good heart that you’ve shared with us.” ~Vea

“Thank you for visiting our school and appreciating our country.
Thank you for sharing the word of God to us, I learned a lot from it… I will
apply it to my life and I will trust God for everything. Thank you so much and I
hope you enjoy your time here in the Philippines.” ~Allyssa

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, I am excited to announce that God has provided an opening for Youth Education Strategies to proclaim the Gospel in the Philippines. I will be traveling with David and Amy Stockwell to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in schools and churches in Laguna City from Oct. 3-22, 2012. Our team is scheduled to speak with more than 10,000 students, so we are anticipating another great project and a mighty move of God in the Philippines!

I would like to take a moment to update everyone about Kenya. Three days before I was scheduled to begin the mission in Kenya, we learned that teachers across Kenya had gone on strike and that classes had been cancelled indefinitely. Because the primary focus of our mission is reaching people in schools, we felt led to postpone this project until the situation was sorted out. This type of strike is unpredictable and not uncommon in countries like Kenya. We encounter many challenges like this while doing international mission work, and we are comforted in knowing that God is in control and that all things will work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose according to Romans 8:28.

YES has just learned that the strikes in Kenya have ended after three weeks, and our team is optimistic that we will be able to complete our mission in the upcoming months once we have finished our project in the Philippines. We believe that it was God’s grace that allowed the strikes to begin the week before departure rather than occurring while we were in Kenya. As a bonus, because we postponed our flights due to “political unrest,” the airline says they aren't going to charge us to reschedule our trip!

Please join Youth Education Strategies in prayer for the Holy Spirit to give our team wisdom and guidance as we reschedule our project in Kenya, and for His power and provision as we share the Good News in the Philippines. Thank you so much for praying and standing with Youth Education Strategies as we proclaim the Gospel to the nations!

About Me

www.knowYES.org
I want to make something completely clear. I do not consider myself a great theologian, a biblical scholar, or even a particularly important person. I am just a young guy who loves Jesus and wants to tell as many people as possible everything I know about having a relationship with Him. This is basically a personal journal of things I am going through and learning and struggling with in my life. It is incredibly humbling that so many people I respect and could learn a lot from want to hear what I have to say. My number one goal in this is to share whatever God has laid on my heart for the week. My prayer is that if something has helped me with my walk with God, maybe it can help someone else also. That is why I’m committing to write this every week. As my friend I was with in Tanzania would say, I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody!